Barbarians

A million shards of glass

That haunt me from my past

As the stars begin to gather

And the light begins to fade

When all hope begins to shatter

Know that I won't be afraid

If I risk it all

Could you break my fall?

How do I live? How do I breathe?

When you're not here I'm suffocating

I want to feel love, run through my blood

Tell me is this where I give it all up?

For you, I have to risk it all

'Cause the writing's on the wall

Sam Smith - “Writing's on the Wall”

Klaxons began to wail aboard Resolve, as the tactical officer shouted to Chugaz Uydan. “Dhyaksh, attackers have breached the hull at multiple points, and enemy shuttles are attempting to storm the hanger bay!”

Chugaz Uydan pounded the com panel at his side. “This is the Dhyaksh to the crew. You are to repel the boarders at all costs. Leave none of them alive!”

Their initial assault had caught the enemy by surprise, and for the first few minutes, Nassat and his team met little resistance. But the Khonhim had been fighting for millennia and recovered, throwing up hasty barricades and ambushes wherever they could. Coming around a corner they ran into their first surprise, falling back under a hail of gunfire. Whisper giggled and fired an explosive grenade from his launcher, shredding the enemy as the group charged forward, firing at anything still moving before Nassat called a brief halt.

“Where are we heading?” Musashi asked as Tango covered their six.

“The bridge,” Nassat informed them, “that is where we will find Chugaz Uydan.”

“If we take the Engine room, we can control the ship,” Graybird pointed out. “Less guarded too.”

“Then he will escape, and try again,” Nassat answered. “Lin always said that if you cut off the head, the snake dies.” He tightened his grip on his shotgun. “We end this now.”

“And Jiyazh?” Musashi asked.

“The best way to help him is to draw off as many of the defenders as we can,” Nassat replied, before giving Whisper a resigned look. “I believe it is time to make our presence known.”

“Oh, goody!” Whisper chortled...as the rest of the team rolled their eyes.

Jiyazh had fired a score of the shuttle’s missiles at the hanger bay entrance as they made their final approach, blasting their way in as the birds grounded, disgorging the warriors within. As suspected Chugaz Uydan’s forces recovered swiftly, laying down a base of withering fire as the rebels sought whatever cover they could. As he scanned the massive compartment Jiyazh searched for anything they could use to smash the resistance...his eyes settling on a series of recessed fittings set into the far bulkhead.

“There! he shouted over the coms, as he pointed out the target, “Heavy weapons and grenades! Fire!”

A fusillade of weapons fire lashed out, ripping into the wall, as the nearby defenders dove for cover. There was little effect at first, but as they kept firing Jiyazh spotted a thick mist beginning to spill into the cavernous bay. It seemed to swirl and roil as it condensed, scattering the enemy loyalists as they ran for safety.

“Down!” he howled...a split second before a mammoth concussion flung them aside like rag dolls.

Blue-green fire boiled over their heads, pulsing and seething like an angry god, as Jiyazh shouted over the coms, “The way is clear! Follow me!” Those of his forces still alive staggered through the smoke and flames as they charged through the broken resistance, fighting their way clear of the hanger and into the ship itself.

Once they were out of range he regrouped, consolidating his forces as he got his bearings. “That way,” he ordered, “once we take the bridge, the battle is over.”

A muffled explosion rocked the deck beneath their feet. “We had best hurry,” he grimaced, “for it would seem we were too successful.”

One of his warriors checked his sensors and blinked. “Dhyaksh,” he stammered, “...that was not us.”

Another tremor jolted Resolve, as Chugaz Uydan and his crew fought to hold on. “What was that?” he demanded.

“Dhyaksh, several explosions are being reported throughout the ship,” one of his officers reported. “Decks seven through twelve are now heavily damaged!”

“It’s them,” he snarled. “Find the intruders and destroy them!”

“You idiot!” Musashi bellowed, “Are you trying to get us killed?”

“You heard the Marshal,” Whisper laughed. “He said, ‘Make our presence known’.” Another blast sent them scurrying down a corridor, as they fought to keep their feet underneath them. “Well, I’m sure they know we’re here now!”

Nassat let the humans settle the argument on their own, as they pushed forward. His focus was on bigger things...Chugaz Uydan himself.

“How much further to the bridge?” he asked, forcing the squabbling teammates to pause their debate as Graybird checked his schematics.

“Two decks up, three compartments forward,” the Hacker replied, as Nassat hefted his shotgun.

“Then let us not keep Chugaz Uydan waiting,” he said, as they pushed on.

Admiral Fujimoto swore as a squadron of the enemy broke through the line, forcing her starboard wing to fall back under a hail of missile fire. The furball she’d predicted had arrived with a vengeance, as both fleets launched broadsides at the enemy in a swirling mass of chaos. It was worse than the Battle of Zaaronq from the last war, for instead of two fleets facing each other there were now four, making Command and Control that much more difficult. Admiral Matevosian was a skilled commander without question, but his forces and hers had never trained together. And as for their Khonhim “Allies”...keeping a spare eye on them in case they switched sides was wearing thin. Not to mention the fact they seemed to have their own ideas on how to fight.

For the moment they were holding their own, but it wouldn’t take much to tip the scales.

Facing one armada had been bad enough, but now Chugaz Uydan was facing three. The relics were little more than a nuisance, and rebels and humans did not seem to coordinate their attacks as efficiently as they might. But despite their difficulties, the enemy was pressing their attack with a single-mindedness impossible to ignore.

As the boarders smashed their way through Resolve, destroying everything in their path, it was growing difficult to fight his ship. Communication and control links were being severed, systems knocked out with an almost reckless abandon, and as the fight continued to rage fewer and fewer of his crew could respond. He needed to break them now before they got the upper hand.

The main hatch exploded, sending him diving for cover, as weapons fire sliced back and forth. Chugaz drew his sidearm and added his own volley to the melee but taken by surprise his crew was being forced back, seeking shelter from behind their consoles. It was an untenable situation, but there might still be a way out of this, as he considered his options.

And then without warning, the sounds of battle ceased.

“...Chugaz Uydan,” an unfamiliar voice spoke into the abrupt silence, “you have nowhere to run. Surrender now, and I will spare your life.”

He rose to his feet, holstering his weapon and keeping his hands visible, as he spotted a Saurotaur flanked by a handful of humans. “You,” he snorted. “I remember you. Jiyazh Ghuuyaz’s lackey. You think you can defeat me?”

“He is no one’s lackey,” another voice called out from behind him...and this one he did recognize.

Chugaz turned until he faced Jiyazh. “We left things unfinished, at our last encounter,” Jiyazh said, aiming his weapon. “A situation I am about to correct.”

A cold, thin smile appeared on Chugaz’s face. “Oh...I think not,” he sneered, his hand darting out to press a hidden button beneath his armrest...as the bridge erupted into flames.